


Social Life

by aronnaxs



Category: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Genre: Gen, tfw your only friend is a computer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23683861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aronnaxs/pseuds/aronnaxs
Summary: With only Hal and Frank to keep him company, Dave muses on their isolation and his interactions with Hal.
Relationships: Hints of Hal/Dave
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Social Life

**Author's Note:**

> maybe lockdown has got into me but I wanted to write Dave and Hal being besties (or more I don’t mind how you read it) in isolation

“Hal.”

Immediately, the computer was there. They were three months out to Jupiter now, and it had taken Bowman a little while to get used to his omnipresence. He was used to systems which worked quietly in the background, churning through data and processes in their own cold way. Hal was something different - a third crew member, as he had been described, a physical presence, almost. Bowman had forgotten at what stage he had shifted from calling Hal ‘it’ to ‘he’; he never slipped on it, unlike his colleague, Frank Poole.

“I need you to run a test on the pod bay. Pod-B is lagging a little.”

“Certainly, Dave.”

Bowman waited as Hal worked. He found he rather enjoyed running through these checklists. It brought a routine to a day which would have otherwise been empty. With no other human beside him but Poole (and often not even him, while he was resting between shifts), he needed to occupy his time. Not that he did not appreciate Poole’s company. But if they were still on earth, he was not the kind of person Bowman would have actively sought out. 

In their isolation, Bowman often mused on how they had had to slip into this strange pace. Poole had struggled, missing his friends and family and also the simple things of opening a window to let in a breeze or taking a stroll outside. The centrifuge was a good place for a jog, yet after ten or twenty or fifty laps, one started to know every inch of it. Bowman sympathised with him. But he also knew they had a task to do, and relished the busyness of their shifts. It kept his mind from the black gulfs beyond the hull, and the vast silence of the Discovery One. And also the creeping realisation of his own isolation back home. This was his life anyway - work, and business, surrounded by emptiness.

“How are you sleeping now, Dave?” Hal’s voice broke through. Bowman looked up from the pod’s dashboard, strobing softly as Hal ran his checks. Hal had a way of chatting while he worked; something which had unnerved Bowman at first, but was now quite amiable.

“Fine, thanks, Hal,” he replied.

“Did my prescription work?”

“Yes, it did.”

“You know that you should not have waited so long to tell me about it. I perform all functions that are needed of me - information storage, decision making, medical, scientific...”

“I know, Hal. Just - one thing at a time, right?”

“Right.” It was silly to say so - Hal was more than capable of doing hundreds of things at any one time. But Bowman was not. Sometimes he thought Hal forgot that, which was a weird way to think of it. Just as he treated Hal like another person, maybe Hal considered him as another digital component. He realised they spoke more often than Bowman ever spoke with Poole. There was an easy kind of way to conversing with Hal. Bowman did not have to behave as he might with another human, knowing that he could not accidentally hurt or insult Hal. There was no need to build a relationship other than what they already had. Yes, Hal was like a third crew member, but a...superior kind. One who was stripped of the baggage of feelings or emotions or fears, and simply did his job. 

Maybe Bowman related to that more than he cared to admit.

“I’ve run the test, Dave,” Hal said soon. “There was a minor flaw in one of the circuit boards, but it is fixed now. Is there anything else you need me to do?”

“No. Thanks, Hal. As you were.”

“Yes, Dave.” He fell silent again and Bowman thought he had gone. When his voice echoed again through the deck, he jumped a little. He often did not start conversations unless there was an emergency. “Would you like to play chess again later, Dave? I am sure that you almost had me last time.”

Bowman frowned, but then could not keep the smile from his face. “Are you bored, Hal? Because I could find you many things that you could be doing.”

“No. I am not bored, Dave. I was simply thinking of you. You seemed to enjoy the game last time.”

“I did. You’re a better challenger than Frank is.” He examined the screen before him, running a few trajectory simulations and ticking them off as he went. “Yes, alright, Hal. But I have this to do first. You know my schedule. I’ll be with you afterwards.”

Some social life, Bowman thought as he carried on. Hal was turning out to be one of the only people - individuals - things - that wanted to spend time with him, and he was a damn computer. He shook his head, knowing that Hal was watching. No doubt he was watching Poole too, and the three slumbering astronauts on their way to Jupiter. At first, he had been put-off by his omnipresence. Now, it was becoming something of a stability.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! :)


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